Twice a week, a community of women gather in a studio off of Chamberlain Road for a common purpose: empowerment.
It’s personified as their pink belt.
One that is tied neatly around their uniforms, marking their completion of the “Women Empowered” courses.
The program teaches women how to defend themselves against a number of attacks but despite the gravity and severity of the topics at hand–any given class can be met with laughter, applause and cheering for every mastered move, a testament to the community built at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Louisville.
EDITOR’S PICKS
“It was very important to us to make sure that women had a safe space and that we also addressed the most common situations that women specifically have to deal with,” Leeann said.
Ten years ago, Leeann and Allan Manganello traveled to California and brought back the Gracie-certified training program, “Women Empowered,” home to Louisville. And, as of today, they remain the only studio in the entire state to offer courses of this kind.
Made up of 20 different classes, the program is meant to equip women with techniques that address real-life situations, with the moves grounded in the practice of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.
“It’s like chess. You do not get to pick what they do, the move that they make. You have to be two steps ahead and think, ‘Okay if they make this move, then I’m going to do this.” Leeann said, “So that’s why we have so many different techniques. I like to say, ‘tools in our tool belt.’”
RELATED
Each technique is tailored to the most common attacks women face, from strangers and, unfortunately, familiar faces. The techniques were designed by survivors of sexual assault and former law enforcement officers, and they are often led from instructors with similar backgrounds, including Leeann’s husband Allan, a former LMPD officer and member of the SWAT team.
“Our techniques are not by opinion. It is proven. This is what actually happens.” Leeann said, “They took that data and they know the most common scenarios, and he’s lived them.”
An experience that Leeann, who is also an instructor and a proud survivor of domestic violence, knows too.
“I know how it happens, because it happened to me.” She said, “I am also living through that and surviving through that.”
Her survival transformed into a passion for learning practical self-defense and giving back to her community, helping to empower other women.
“What Jiu-Jitsu has done for me, it has ‘given Stella her groove back.’ It has made me more confident.” Leeann said, “I’m not just compassionate through the situations that women have gone through but I also personally have healed and know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for them.”
The program not only equips women with the physical self-defense moves, but the instructors also help guide them through the importance of the mental and the emotional: how to set boundaries, to trust your instincts, to be aware of your surroundings and so much more.
RELATED
“We just let people know that we meet you where you are, in your self defense journey, in your healing journey.” Leeann said, “So that’s really important to us as well, is that our instructors are trained to be able to guide people based on where they are with their life or what has happened to them in their past.”
Attending even just one class is to be met with open arms. To sit in a circle of women of all ages, all levels of strength and athleticism.
It’s to be greeted by friendly instructors, who volunteer their free time, apart from their daily 9-to-5’s, who are dedicated to your growth.
“To see women after, you know, doing these classes, to see their transformation, to see their confidence grow is just truly–it’s something that I can’t really put into words.”
LATEST
- Butchertown Art Fair Returns to Historic Louisville Neighborhood this June
- Romance Bookstore Turns Page to Success in Jeffersontown
- The Black Keys at The Louisville Palace: Peaches ‘N Kream Tour
- Kentucky Kingdom Opens for 2026 Season with New Flying Fox Coaster, Cashless Payments
- Beshear says he’s signing emergency measures to freeze, lower gas tax
TRENDING
This article appears in April 24-May 7, 2026.